Property Newsletter 12th August 2024

LANDLORDS FACE AN UPHILL BATTLE TO MEET THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT’S 2030 TARGET OF ALL PRIVATELY RENTED HOMESACHIEVING AN EPC RATING OF A-C, RESEARCH REVEALS.

The data from Hamptons shows that if energy efficiency improvements continue at the current rate, it will take until 2042 for all rented homes to reach the desired standard – that’s 12 years beyond the proposed deadline. To hit the 2030 goal, around 340,000 rented homes would need to improve their EPC rating to C or higher each year until then. That’s triple the number of homes set to achieve this level in 2024.

?Source: Property118.com

?UK HOUSE PRICES RISE IN JULY

In July, UK house prices increased by +0.8% on a monthly basis, following three relatively flat months. The average house price in the UK is ￡291,268, up over ￡2,200 compared to the previous month. Annual growth rose to +2.3%, the highest rate since the start of this year. House prices in the North West also recorded strong growth, up +4.1%, compared to the previous year, properties here now average ￡232,489.

Source: Halifax House Price Index

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RIGHTMOVE TO LOSE 8% OF LETTINGS LISTINGS NEXT MONTH

It has failed to reach an agreement over fees with the online platform OpenRent. Rightmove tells shareholders in the same statement that its contract with OpenRent will terminate with effect from September 1. Rightmove says: OpenRent's landlord customers will therefore lose access to the UK's largest property-seeking audience. Rightmove remains the place for consumers to find more UK properties than any other portal, and in H1 2024, delivered 8 times the number of properties rented than the next largest portal. Over 80% of all consumer time spent on property portals continues to be spent on Rightmove.

Source: Lettingagenttoday.co.uk

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REPOSSESSION CLAIMS IN ENGLAND AND WALES AT HIGHEST IN FIVE YEARS

?Both bank and landlord cases rise but remain below pre-Covid levels, despite a tough cycle of interest rate rises. The number of claims made by banks and landlords to repossess homes in England and Wales has reached the highest level in five years as households struggle with higher borrowing costs. Figures from the Ministry of Justice show mortgage possession claims made by lenders in the county courts reached 5,343 in the three months to the end of June, up 34% a year earlier, to hit the highest level since the first quarter of 2019.

Source: Guardian

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ENGLISH HOUSING SURVEY: EIGHT IN TEN PRIVATE RENTERS ARE SATISFIED WITH RENTED ACCOMMODATION

According to the Government’s latest English Housing Survey in 2022/23, 82 per cent of private renters were satisfied with their accommodation, compared to 74 per cent of those in the social rented sector. The data also shows that 76 per cent of private renters were satisfied with the housing services provided by their landlord, compared to 64 per cent of social sector tenants.

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Source NRLA

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